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Island X
Description Island X is huge map of a tropical island resplendent with mountains and forest; the sort of place that would make a great holiday destination, were it not a major theatre of World War 3. The blue respawn area is simply two raised helipads and a tower with steps leading down to ground level while, further downhill, the red base is a much larger affair: taking in an expansive (and exposed) concrete floor, a number of shelters with their roofs half missing, and a building and yard cut off by fencing. A forest path winds between the two bases (this turns into a bridge over a now-dry river near the red area), and, in the middle, leads off to a big structure containing two helipads, two tall towers and one giant tower (the latter only being accesible via a sky walk). Other features of Island X include trees, climable mountains, trees, rocks, trees, areas to the extremes of the map where you're unlikely to see anybody else for the whole game, oh, and trees. Both sides have 1 APC, 1 machine gun turret, 2 IFVs and 1 helicopter. Supplies drop onto a path on the east side of the island (that leads to nowhere in particular) as well as the east side of the red base. In Attack & Defend games, the bomb is on the red building although Attack & Defend and Free For All games tend to be unpopular choices due to the vastness of the map, and the lack of a specific area for infantry-only games (as oppossed to Sandstorm or Maelstrom). Gameplay & Strategy Up to now, Island X is probably the most varied and ambitious map in the game. It is certainly spoilt, though, by being very one-sided. If the blue team has a better helicopter pilot than the red team, then this all but guarantees victory. This is due to red's respawn area being exposed with no good cover within a three second run (the time until invulnerability wears off). Should the red soldiers try to attack the helicopter by staying still (this makes them invincible to enemy vehicles until they move), then it's easy for blue snipers or assault players to run down and hide in the surrounding forest and then a rout ensues. A more even game often features assault battles in the forest (it's important to make use of covering rocks and thick trees- the thin trees don't stop bullets and only exist to obsure vision), and a great number of good sniper positions. The towers in the middle are particularly good for this, as are the mountains overlooking the enemy base (although this position is more exposed). Surrounding the enemy respawn point is a game-winner for blue, but of limited use for red. This map is also the worst choice for slow computer players. This is due to the size of the map and all the rocks and foliage. So if you don't have a fast computer, stay on maps like Maelstorm or Frostbite.